I do not understand why Adobe would have fields on the mobile or CC version that do not sync to desktop Classic version. Can someone please explain? I understand not pushing everything from Classic desktop to mobile/cloud version as it is too much. But FROM mobile/cloud to desktop is a must if this is truly supposed to be a portable product. Is Adobe branching into two completely different products? I can think of no other reason to program them to not sync properly from the beginning. Entered lots of location data on CC and from what I can see, it does not sync and Adobe has no plans to ever sync that metadata even though those fields already exist in Classic version. Would someone please explain WHY?

The CC versions (Lightroom CC, IOS, Android, Apple TV and Web) were designed to work seamlessly with one another. They all contain full access to each other's data and the cloud and were built that way from the beginning. Lightroom Classic was designed as a desktop-based environment originally and had cloud access bolted on very late in its design. Differences in the way things like Keywords are handled (Flat in CC and Hierarchical in Classic CC) is one example of reasons why it is very difficult to port metadata from one to the other.

But what about the location fields? City, State, Country are identical names. Why wouldn't they sync those? It would be helpful if Adobe published a very clear listing of what does and does NOT sync. The marketing literature talks around the reality of what does NOT sync. Help and Forums do not address this thoroughly, only one issue at a time, which doesn't help me to develop a realistic workflow that incorporates using the CC versions.

I agree with you. I wish Adobe would adopt a more pragmatic policy than the "no more than now" line which syncs title, caption, adjustment metadata, flags and ratings but fails to sync other single value fields such as 4 location fields and the GPS value. Keywords are understandably difficult - hierarchies, synonyms, do not export etc - but the existing single value fields sync reliably and it's hard to believe that the others are any more difficult in principle. If you can sync all that complex adjustment metadata, you can sync 4 or 5 little text fields.

I'm glad to see others share my sentiment. Has anyone found any sort of comprehensive & clear listing of what fields sync & do not sync that Adobe has published as part of their technical support services? Poking through forums & crowdsourcing technical support is incredibly inefficient. Thank you all for chiming in!

This is really annoying. Neither labels nor keywords sync, which I use extensively to organize my pictures on the desktop. I simply want to be able to filter and browse, and do some light editing on the go, but I NEED these existing organizational tools. But I suppose I will just have to go through tens of thousands of pictures again and re-tag and label just because Adobe is lazy?

And why are labels being dropped again? This is not how to you move forward, Adobe.

I am at least glad to know that the sync failure is through technical difficulties and not (as I had thought) a deliberate policy. The update from Classic to CC is fine for image changes and it can't be that hard to update metadata in that direction - it already flattens the hierarchy on the first upload. Coming back from CC (flat) to Classic (hierarchy) I can see might be harder. SmugMug ad Flickr both do seamless metadata updates from Classic, and now they are one, the attraction of CC diminishes if you can update metadata.